You Can't Cut the Rose
by hellomynameisphoebe
Summary: When Rose and Lissa ran away, Rose never stopped training, if she's even MORE badass? What would happen if Dimitri never left Russia, instead he stayed and taught at an academy? Would Rose and Dimitri meet and fallen in love? Follow Rose's story AU R/D
1. Caught

**Hey Guys, heres my new story! **

**Summary is: What would happen if when Lissa and Rose ran away, they never stopped training? And Rose had already killed? What would happen if Dimitri never left Russia and his moroi was still alive? Would Rose and Dimitri still have met? And fallen in love? D&R**

**Enjoy Guys! R&R**

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><p>Blood, tangled metal and the bodies of her family replaced my dream. I had been at the beach, laughing along with some hot guys when I had felt her fear. It had drawn me into her nightmare, so I felt the pain and the horror along with her. It was a familiar scene, but it terrified her just the same. She screamed.<p>

"Lissa! Wake up! You're not there!" I shook her gently after I bolted from my bed to her side. My voice was gentle, a tone I used only with her. "Lissa!"

"Andre!" she moaned, I had to wake her "Oh God!"

"Liss!" I spoke louder, as she was beginning to awaken.

"Rose… I had that dream." She told me, shaking. She had bags under her eyes, she was weak. I could feel it.

"Yer, I know." I told her. "When was the last time we did a feeding?"

I couldn't remember the last time I had given her blood, it would explain why she was so weak, why the nightmare had almost overcome her.

We sat in silence, as she tried to think of an excuse. She hated to hurt me- to see me weak and to have to know that she caused that by feeding off of me, but she also knew that I would do what I could to keep her alive, so eventually she caved and fed off me. She tried to avoid it though.

"Umm, Friday? You were busy and needed your strength…" She tried to reason. It was Tuesday, she had gone 5 day without blood. That was nearly unheard-of for a vampire, especially a royal one.

I leant my head forward, coaxing her to bite into the soft flesh of my neck. Even without the bond you could have felt the bloodlust taking over control, as she bit into my skin.

I have to lock my jaw down to keep from screaming, my teeth breaking through the soft flesh of my lip.

The pain was excruciating, before the ecstasy took over. I reveled in the pain, while hating the pleasure the endorphins brought me. It was a weakness I fought, but couldn't completely shake.

She broke the contact almost immediately, taking only enough blood that she felt stronger.

I felt a goofy grin on my face from the endorphins, while the blood loss tried me out.

"I'm going to get you some food." Lissa told me, her skin beginning to show a tone of red.

The cat jumped onto the windowsill, glaring at me. He was Jeremy, our room mate's. We had rented a room with him for the past month, thinking that we would be safer close to a large number of people.

It was them that I saw them. They hid clumsily behind a tree, 6 in total. They were close enough to see what Lissa and I had just done. How could I be so stupid? Why had I not spared a glance out the window before I fed Lissa.

Grabbing both our shoes and wallets, I rushed down to kitchen when Lissa was cutting a sandwich in half. She smiled at me and handed me half the sandwich. I wolfed it down, while Lissa realized what was going on.

"There not, no." She stuttered, before turning to me. "What do we do?"

"Get the keys. We have to go. NOW!" I told her, she knew what to do, we'd done this before.

"What? Why do you want my keys?" Jeremy stumbled into the room, obviously drunk.

_Easy_, I thought.

"Jeremy, we need your keys." Lissa compelled Jeremy, her voice soothing and believable. Jeremy reached into her pocket, withdrew his keys and handed them to Lissa. "And where is it parked?"

"The corner by Brown, two blocks over" Jeremy spoke dreamily.

"Thank you! Forget you saw us this evening, and go to bed." Lissa ordered as she pulled on her shoes and I pulled her out the door.

From there we ran, as fast as we could. I pulled Lissa along behind me, and through the bond I could feel her pushing herself to the limit. Nearing Brown, I could hear guardians on our trail.

3 stepped out before us, forming an arrow around the car. I recognized one as Stan Alto, a guardian I had particularly hated while at the academy. I was glad to have an opportunity to kick his ass.

I stopped, jerking Lissa behind me as I stepped in front in a defensive stance. Stan smiled cockily at me, he seemed to think he'd one. He stepped forward.

"Now, now Rose. Come back willingly and we won't have to hurt you." He said, the rest of the guardians were closing in around us now. There were 12 in total. Reaching back, I tied by hair in a pony tail. I wouldn't let my hair be the cause of our capture, also, I thought it would be a great time to show off my 4 molnija marks.

Along the way, we had found an dhampir who had been trained to draw the marks, but was independent of the guardians, a vigilante you could call him. He saw me kill the strigoi, and therefore, decided that I deserved the marks that go with killing one.

I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me, they had clearly caught site of my marks. I smirked, slowly leading Lissa towards the car.

That was when I saw them. The ghosts. The took the shapes of people, dead people. I saw Lissa's family- a disturbing reminder of the draw I had witnessed early in the evening. There were others, too. Each was sad, the seemed to call me too them, calling me into death. No one else could see them, I faced them alone. Lissa seemed to sense my feelings, this had happened before.

Noticing my distraction, Stan made a move at me. He didn't get far though, I struck out at him, taking him by surprised as he landed on his ass. The pain began in my head, a piercing migraine cutting off my vision.

"Rose?" Lissa whispered to me, pleading.

I feel to my knees, and before I blacked out, I swear I heard Lissa scream.


	2. Don't Believe Me?

**AN: Hey guys, I'm on holidays for another week so there should be regular updates until then. Enjoy the story! Guess what's gonna happen in a review! Thanks to everyone who's already reviewed and I'm sorry about any grammatical/spelling mistakes. Does anyone want to beta for me?**

**Love you guys :) xx**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

When I woke, I was on a plane. My migraine was still there, bearly. I forced it out of my mind, instead, focusing on Lissa. She was scared. She didn't want to go back to the academy, but on top of that, she was worried about me. Worried that something horrible had happened.

Lissa knew about the ghosts, and she worried that they did worse to me than I told her. She was right- I had only told her that they appeared, I didn't mention the chilling cold or the faces of people I knew. It would only worry her more.

I felt the pull before I knew what was happening, so I could fight it. My- no, Lissa's hands were folded neatly on her lap. She stared out the window of the plane, scared for me and of the academy. A guardian sat next to her, Stan Alto to be exact. The silence that hung between them was so awkward any passer by would be able to feel it.

I focused my mind on my hand, on my hair and where I sat. Trying to return to my body.

Looking down, I smiled slightly, I was back in my own body. My hair tied back into a ponytail was loose, so I reached my hands back and retied it.

"How did you get your marks?" Stans voice came, surprising me. His voice held accusation and anger. "Did you ask a human tattoo parlor to do them?"

He didn't believe they were real, that I was capable. "No. A dhampir did them. He saw me kill the strigoi and thought I deserved the marks." I told Stan.

He laughed sarcastically. "And who might this dhampir be?"

"Jason Derek." Stan froze. He obviously recognized the name. But how? "You know him?"

"Yes, a long time ago. I believed he was dead." His voice was hurt, but still held the same tone of disbelief.

"Well, he's not. He's alive and well. He helped me train."

"He was one of the best. But his loyalties laid not to the Moroi." Stans eyes held unshed tears. "But, your story is doubtful. You would not be capable, having missed over 2 years of training."

With that, Stan returned to Lissa. Leaving me hating his guts even more.

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><p>Arriving back at the academy, with its huge university like campus, was overwhelming. Sure, I was glad to be back but I was worried about Lissa. And what if Kirova didn't let us – or me back in?<p>

"Are you taking us to Kirova?" I asked one of the anonymous guardians.

He nodded shortly.

"Are you ok Liss?" I whispered, wrapping my arms around her.

_Yer, I'll be ok, as long as your with me_. She told me through the bond_. But what if they send one of us away?_

"They won't."

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><p>The guardians took us through the dining hall where all the students were. 'Conveniently' it was lunch time.<p>

We got stares, anywhere we looked. Apparently there had been a million rumors about why, how and where we had gone. No one knew, and it would stay that way.

Relaxing, I caught the eye of some of my friends before we left. One guy, Mason who had freckles and bright red hair, winked at me. He had had a crush on me since forever. I grinned back, making the most of it.

There was a sudden intake of breath, as I realized I still had my hair tied back and my molnijia mark in view.

"Shit!" I muttered, quickly untying my hair, hoping that those who saw them didn't get a clear view.

Arriving at Kirova's office was like seeing my second home. Before we left, I had spent **a lot** of time here. Let's just say, I wasn't really fond of authority.

"Rosemarie, Vasilissa. I'm sorry to inform you, but while you were away, _partying,_" Kirova put venom into her words. Lissa and I hadn't been partying, we had been learning. Just, not the same stuff you learn here. "Prince Victor Dashkov has passed away."

Victor had been like Lissa's father after her parents had been killed, and therefore like mine but while we were away, Victor had tried to kidnap Lissa, and use her ability to heal to heal him of his disease. We had escaped, barely.

Lissa had tears in her eyes, though behind her tears was resentment to the man who had acted like a father, only so he could use her. I, on the other hand, kept a blank, guardian signature, face and braced myself for the lecture that was surely to come.

This lecture went for longer than any other I had got from Kirova, though it covered the usual topics. I tuned back in once the lecture turned directly to me.

"And you, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred promise among our kind: the vow of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away from here." I had to bite my tongue to keep from arguing. At this point, I knew that my place at St. Vladimir's was balancing on the edge.

"The Strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomirs; _you_ nearly enabled them to do it."

"But I did keep her safe! I protected her from the strigoi!" I shouted. I could feel the guardians placed in the corners of the room bracing for me to turn violent.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" Kirova was taken aback.

"I said that I fucking protected her when none of you could!" I yelled. "And I have the marks to prove it!"

_Relax Rose, calm down._ Lissa told me throught the bond.

"I wanted to go! Rose didn't kidnap me. Don't blame her." Lissa pleaded, I think she threw a little compulsion in with her words.

"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one to orchestrate the entire plan for all I know, but it was still _her_ responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out." Kirova argued, clearly she wanted me out of here. "If she'd done her duty, she would have notified someone. If she'd done her duty, she would have kept you safely here."

"But I wasn't safe here!" I exploded. I was on the verge of telling her everything.

_No! Rose you can't tell her!_ Lissa shrieked through the bond.

"Miss Hathaway, forgive me if I fail to see what it is your are talking about. What do you mean a heavily guarded, magically protected environment isn't protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?"

I bit my lip, hard, but kept silent. I couldn't tell her.

"I see. Well, then. By my estimations, the only reason you left—aside from the novelty of it, no doubt—was to avoid the consequences of that horrible, destructive stunt you pulled just before your disappearance."

"No- that's not-" Kirova cut me off.

"And that only makes my decision that much easier. As a Moroi, the princess must continue on here at the Academy for her own safety, no matter what you claim, but we have no such obligations to you. You will be sent away as soon as possible."

"I… what?" This surprised me. She couldn't send me away! I had to stay with Lissa.

"You can't do that! She's my guardian!" Lissa protested.

"She is no such thing, particularly since she isn't even a guardian at all, she's still a novice." Ah, so the headmistress acknowledged she was still enrolled here. I would do everything in my power to have her stay here.

"But my parents—"

"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable." How could I be expendable? There were small enough guardian numbers as it is.

"She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave."

"Where are you going to send me? To my mom in Nepal? Did she even know I was gone?" I yelled at Kirova, struggling to keep me anger down.

"Or maybe you'll send me off to my _father_?" Kirova cringed.

"Or maybe you're going to try and send me off to be a blood whore. Try that, and we'll be gone by the end of the day." I threatened. We had done it once, we could do it again.

"Miss Hathaway," Kirova hissed. "You are out of line."

Lissa was on the verge of tears. She was scanning through absolutely every possible thing that could keep me here, when an idea popped into her head.

"But, we have a bond!" She tried. "And guardian numbers are down enough, we can't loose another one. Especially one with as much potential as Rose. She already killed!"

"No…that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries."

"But it's true! Please let her stay, headmistress." Lissa was compelling her. It was so obvious to me, but that was probably because I knew what was going through he head.

"Fine, but this is how it is going to be. To make up for lost training, you will have a mentor, who you will train with every moment that you are not in school or in a meal. You will do 20 hours of service in the church to make up for that destructive stunt you pulled before you left and step out of line once, miss a practice or your service and you are gone." Kirova set the rules. Clearly, she wanted me gone so bad, that even Lissas compulsion didn't really help. "Do you accept?"

"Fine." I sighed, this wasn't going to be fun, but I had to do it for Lissa. "Who is my mentor going to be?"

"Guardian Alto."

AN: I'll update once I get a few more reviews :). Constructive criticism pleaassseee, if possible :). 


	3. Strikes

**AN: Soo... this chapter is a little OOC for Rose, but its the best I could do. At home, we had a blackout... and I couldn't write the story or update :( sorry guys! **

**I don't know if I'll be able to update for a while but I'll try, holidays are nearly over and the blackouts supposed to go for like anoth day or two. Eww!**

**Anyways... Enjoyy and review, review, review! :) **

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

They gave us a day to unpack before we had to return to school. I didn't get to unpack much, seeing as Stan wanted to see me immediately after the meeting to organize our training sessions. I was to train for 2 hours after school and an hour and a half before. Seeing as school was almost over for the day, he settled on an hour after school.

In my packing time, I snuck out of my dorm to see Lissa. She was hanging on, happy that I hadn't been expelled.

"Rose!" She squealed when she opened to door to me.

"Yeh, Liss, its me." I told her, smiling widely "How am I going to cope with Stan as a mentor? I hate him!"

"I don't know…" She said thoughtfully, before launching into a long lecture on why I had to behave.

"I'd better go, before the bell rings." I said, glancing at the clock, relising it was the end of the school day. "And I have training."

"Well, good luck! And be good!" She yelled as I sprinted out the door.

"Rose!" Someone called my name as I entered the dhampir dorms. I recognized the voice, but I couldn't quite put it to a face.

I turned, to see Mason racing towards me, almost out of breath as the bell rang. "You need to exercise more" I teased him.

"Good to see you too, Hathaway," He retorted, before pulling me into a pashionate kiss.

Mase and I had a kind of on again, off again kind of romantic relationship. He totally into me, but I wasn't so sure how I felt, and he was one of my closest dhampir friends. I didn't want to ruin that. When we had left, it had been off again, so I wasn't sure why he was kissing me now.

"What was that?" I asked him, pulling myself out of his arms.

"A kiss?" He told me, raising an eyebrow. "I'm glad your back. Maybe I can finally beat you now."

"You wish," I laughed at him.

"Is it true?" He asked suddenly.

"Is what true?" I asked him back I had no idea what he was talking about.

"That you have marks. I heard a rumor going around. Someone said they saw them this morning."

My grin dropped. I didn't want everyone knowing about that. "Who said that?"

Ignoring my question, Mason said "It's true, isn't it." Before reaching behind my neck and looking at my 4 marks. His eyes went wide.

"I got to go to training. I'll talk to you later," I said jerking my head away from him and heading off towards my room.

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><p>"You're late Hathaway." Stan told me, as I entered the gym. "That's strike one."<p>

I gave him my signature 'are you kidding me' look, before asking "What have you go planned?"

"We're going to spar, see what your up to, which no doubt is with the elementary dhampirs and the you are going to do laps."

"You doubt me? It's going to be embarrassing for you when I kick you ass." I taunted.

And I was right. I took him down easily. To which he was stunned to say the least.

"Ok, Hathaway. Laps." He barked.

"No. You do laps." I told him, he's the one who lost after all.

"Strike 2." He muttered.

"Fuck you." I told him. "Just because you're embarrassed doesn't mean you have to take it out on me. Maybe if you trained your ass little more often, you would be able to beat someone of 'elementary' level."

"Strike 3. Headmistress's office. Now."

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><p>"Already, Miss Hathaway? I thought you wanted to keep you place here." Kirova asked me, as soon as I walked in the door.<p>

"I didn't do anything wrong!" I yelled.

"Then why are you here?" Kirova asked, cunningly

"Because Stan hates me! And so do you!"

"We have had an offer for another school to take you, so you will go there." Kirova continued calmly. This was what she wanted.

"But what about Lissa?"

"She will be better off without you. You leave tomorrow." Kirova told me, a slight smile on her lips.

I left with out a word after that, storming out of here office towards the Moroi dorms.

The matron in the lobby tried to stop me, but I kept walking up. I could tell that Lissa was feeling better, settling in.

The tears were threatening to overflow my eyes by now. I NEVER cried. I can't believe they were sending me away. We had to get out now.

I knocked on Lissa's door. She had company that I hadn't realized before. It was her roommate, a moroi I had never seen before but looked scarily like Lissa, who threw the bond I could tell was named Jill Manstrano.

She opened the door, enveloping me in her arms immediately. I could feel the questions through the bond, but chose to ignore them. Lissa began to worry, but at the same time she trusted me not to get expelled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" I told her over and over again. I couldn't say it.

"What happened Rose?" She asked me.

"They kicked me out…" I cried into her shoulder. I felt so weak, being so emotional.

"They what?" She said, jerking her head back to look at me. "Why?"

"I don't know. I gave Stan attitude." I told her. "We have to get out of here."

"Yeh, what do we need?" Lissa asked me.

"No!" A voice came suddenly, looking through the bond, I could see the voice surprised us both. "You can't leave!"

It was Jill. She had just come out of the bathroom, having heard the last past of the conversation.

"And why not?" I growled,"We've done it before."

Jill looked scared, but I had to admire her couraged. The look I gave her usually at least slowed a person down. "I know you've done it before.. but, but, if you leave, the-they a-are shh-ure to find you again- and this time, the-y prob-probably wo-uldn't just t-ake you b-back, they'd pr-probably kill you. Or at th-the v-very l-east… Kick L-lissa out too." Jill stuttered, looking nervous once again.

"She's right." Lissa held my shoulders and began to sob. "As much as I can't bear you not being here, it'd much so much worse if-if the-they killed you. All because of me…"

"But what about…" I stopped myself. Jill didn't know. She couldn't. "You know…"

"Don't worry. I'll call you everyday and we can visit each other. All the time." Lissa told me sadly. "We'll work it out. Want me to come and help you pack?"

The walk to my room was excruciating. The tears has stopped fowing from my eyes, and dispite my best efforts, people still came up to me and asked me what's wrong.

Lissa growled, which made me laugh, and those who I was friends with before I left trailed behind as me and Lissa tried to make it to our room. I let them all in. Standing with us were Lissa, Mason, Eddie, Jill and Mia.

Me and Mia had our ups and our down, but we came together when we both realized that the royals were asses, who care for no one but them selves – except Lissa that is.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Mason asked me, for the twenty-or-so-ith time. This time, went Lissa answered for me, but I cut her off.

"Kirova kicked me out." They gasped, but I just laughed humorlessly. "Don't act so surprised. We all knew it was coming. The bitch hates me."

They were all too dumbstruck to speak. They hadn't expected that. But me, being me, thought of the ways to benefit out of the situation.

"Let's play truth or dare." I told them, I mean, since I'm no longer a student, it's not like I could get in any trouble, so I told the that. "It's not like you guys could get in any trouble, blame it on me."

They didn't respond, so I resorted to pleading. "Pl-easee?"

It didn't work, so I tried the pity vote. "It'll make me feel better, make me not so sad."

That one worked and one by one, they began to cave.

"Sit in a circle." I ordered, before asking, "Who wants to go first?"

"I warn you, Rose is totally badass at truth or dare." Lissa warned.

"Like they didn't know that Liss," I laughed. "Besides, I'm badass at everything."

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><p><strong>PS. You know you want to review! xxxx<strong>


	4. Truth, Dare and Expulsion

**Sorry it's been sooooo long since I updated! **

**Ooops… I forgot the disclaimer… forgive me?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any character, they are property of Richelle Mead, I do, however own the story line and the odd character here or there **

Chapter 4

"Alright, I'll go first." Lissa sighed, before turning to Mia and asking, "Truth or Dare?"

"Umm…" She stalled, thinking, before deciding on, "Dare."

It's not like you can be too scared of Liss and her dares, she's too nice – too soft. She doesn't exactly have the "evil" mind thing going for her, like me. Looking into her head, I could feel trains of thought chasing each other 'round and 'round in her head. Suddenly, with what she thought was a genius dare, but was actually quite average, she asked me though the bond, _should I dare Mia to kiss Eddie? _

I nodded. They would be such a cute couple!

"Mia, I dare you to make out with Eddie," Lissa addressed Mia, smirking when both Mia and Eddie blushed.

Mia stood up and walked over to Eddie sitting on the opposite side of the circle. She knelt in front of him, before slowly bringing her lips to his and closing her eyes. The kiss was hot. It was waayyy more intimate than a kiss between two people who didn't have feelings for each other.

*Cough! Cough!* I faked a cough, breaking the two of the apart. They both blushed again, slightly out of breath, before straightening their clothes and moving back to their original places.

"Umm…" Mia started nervously, before regaining her old confidence and asking, "Jill, truth or dare?"

And Jill, being Jill chose truth. She didn't want have to KISS anybody. She was so like Lissa and at times like this, I wondered how they weren't related. They even had the same- similar- eyes.

The game continued on the same, new secrets spilt, scandals brewing and old secrets resurrected- again. It was all fun, for me at least, until Mase pulled the question on Liss.

It was right after he had been dared to kiss me, and I, being me, responded to the kiss, kissing him back - possibly fuelling his crush on me even more. The bold Mase, on the high that came from the kiss with me , no doubt felt invincible – and curious- well, curious enough to ask Lissa…

"Why did you and Rose leave the academy?"

Lissa was speechless, but through the bond I could feel her running through every reason, searching for one that seemed the most sane. Until, she settled on an idea.

_Compulsion? _She asked silently.

I shook my head, before saying to the group, who were curiously looking on to the exchange, waiting for the most sought after piece of gossip this year.

"The reason we left is way bigger than you guys could imagine; too big to be brought up in a game of truth or dare."

I could feel Liss trying to silently compel them, making the idea seem more logical and reasonable. They did drop it, but they also seemed to think that it was the ideal time to leave – what with the awkwardness and everything.

They left, leaving me and Lissa sitting in a semi-semi circle thinking about why it was that we left, until suddenly, Lissa stood, taking me by surprise since I had been trying to block out the bond.

"We should pack," She told me. "Can I come with you? Maybe it'll be better than here."

I could hear the yearning in her voice and hear the reasons through the bond. She was sick of the questions, the special treatment and being different. She wanted someone like her.

"No, Liss. You have to stay here. They won't let you leave." I told her. I wanted to come with me, so much that I felt tears spring to my eyes, but I held the back. The truth was, that even if she did something horrible, Kirova would never send her away, much less to the same place she is sending me. She's precious – the last Dragomir.

"I know. But how will I survive without you?" She asked, verging on hysterics.

"We can see each other all the time – if I'm not too far away, we can spend weekends and breaks together." Now I was the one trying to cheer her up. "I wonder where they're sending me…"

"To another academy. You have too much promis." Lissa told me, smiling slightly. "I'll still ask for you as my guardian. We'll still be best friends."

"You won't replace me? No matter what?" I asked. I didn't want to be replaced in the year or so left until graduation.

"No matter what,"

LINE

The next morning I was packed – all my stuff fit into 2 smallish duffle bags. I knew I didn't have much, but each bit reminded me of what it had been like out in the real world with Liss, and how much I wanted it to be like that always.

The academy sent 3 guardian with me – watching every move, making sure I didn't attack any one of them or try to escape.

"Where are we going?" I asked a tall guardian with short, spikey black hair. He seemed surprised that I didn't know.

"Russia," he replied, "We were sending you to live with your father, but he wanted you sent to St. Basil academy."

"What?" I half-screamed, confused. "Who's my father?"

"Abe Mazur," he chuckled when my jaw dropped. _The _Abe Mazur was a powerful non-royal moroi mobster, rumoured to be involved in a lot of illegal business, with both vampires and humans.

I tried to sleep the rest of the 13 hour trip, but my mind kept wondering back to Abe, trying to point out features that are similar between us, until of course I realized I had no idea what he looked like.

LINE

St. Basils academy in Russia was extremely similar to St. Vladmirs. They both had the same olden-style buildings, that looked as though they belonged more in a university than a vampire academy. But even though they looked the same, there were subtle differences, - the colours used throughout the buildings, and the specific designs of some of the buildings that hinted to their Russian origins. It was like I had seen in Moscowwhen the plane had landed briefly to refuel.

I was good during the flight – I had stared at one of the guardians who had come from ST. Basils to get me. He was 6'6 or 6'7, with should length brown hair that hung loosely around his neck. His rich brown eyes drew you in, and coupled with his tanned, muscular body – he was hot!

I slept, I ate half the food on board the plane and I thought about what this new academy would be like and eventually it dawned on me that I didn't speak Russian.

"Shit!" I muttered under my breath. The hot guardian turned and glared at me.

"Yes? I'm guardian Belikov." He told me.

"I didn't speak Russian." I told him. I didn't tell him my name – granted he already knew.

"Of course you don't" Mutter Belikov, bringing his hand to his sexy hair and shaking his head.

"HEY! Will you teach me then?" I asked him. It was a good excuse to stare at him.

"Fine," He sighed, "I'll teach you the basics.

LINE

**AN: Ok, so I'm thinking of changing the title to No Matter What. What do you think? And sorry it's been so long since update! I haven't had access to a computer!**

**Tell me what you think! R&R!**

**Check out my other Vampire Academy story!**

**.net/s/6670235/1/Jill_ManstranoDragomir_Moroi_Princess**

**And do you think that it's going too fast? Or not fast enough?**


	5. I Know You!

**Here is the awaited... Chapter 5**

**Previously...**

_**I was good during the flight – I had stared at one of the guardians who had come from ST. Basils to get me... He seemed familiar, his 6'6 or 6'7 and should length brown hair that hung loosely around his neck. His rich brown eyes drew you in, and coupled with his tanned, muscular body – he was hot!**_

_**I slept, I ate half the food on board the plane and I thought about what this new academy would be like and eventually it dawned on me that I didn't speak Russian.**_

_**"Shit!" I muttered under my breath. The hot guardian turned and glared at me.**_

_**"Yes? I'm guardian Belikov." He told me.**_

_**"I didn't speak Russian." I told him. I didn't tell him my name – granted he already knew.**_

_**"Of course you don't" Muttered Belikov, bringing his hand to his sexy hair and shaking his head.**_

_**"HEY! Will you teach me then?" I asked him. It was a good excuse to stare at him.**_

_**"Fine," He sighed, "I'll teach you the basics.**_

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><p>By the end of the plane trip, I knew a few words – hi, my name is Rose, yes, no, and most importantly, fuck off.<p>

Most of the time, we really just talked, as though we were old friends. I made him talk about his past, and he got me to talk about mine. I told him things I had never told anyone before- aside from Lissa- because I just kind of felt like I could trust him.

I learnt that he had grown up here in Russia and had 3 sisters, one of which was at the academy currently. He told me about his charge – a royal Moroi who had died while he was off duty, and how he had wanted to move to America, where he had wanted to start again – a new charge a new country, a new life. But somehow, he couldn't manage to leave his family. It was sweet, I thought, not wanting to leave your family. But it also gave you a weakness, just like Lissa was mine, his family was his.

He asked me about Lissa and my time out in the real world – about how we had been caught. He seemed to already know what had happened, but he hadn't known about Lissa's bite. I think it surprised him, when I drew my hair back into a pony-tail, only to reveal a fading bruise on the side of my neck, and my 4 molnijia marks at the nape of my neck.

His eyes widened slightly, surprised by both the bruise and the marks. He leaned forward slightly, lightly touching the bruise. I cringed slightly, I may be healing, but it still hurt.

It was then he spotted my marks. His hand moved from the side of my neck to nape. He leaned forward, close enough for me to smell a delicious scent of aftershave that wafted from him. I could my eyes, enjoying the feeling of soft fingers tracing the marks down my back.

He leant forward more, his nose so close to my neck that I could hear his soft breath sending goose bumps down my neck. "You did all this to protect her?" He murmured, "but you are barely 17…"

I turned my head to look him in the eyes, but instead, could help but stared at his soft, full lips. She stared right at my lips too, and as his hand reach up to my hair, pulling it from it band, I felt fireworks igniting though my skin. I leant in, only slightly, so he knew what I wanted, but I wouldn't make the first move.

Maybe it was the lust in the air that let my guard down, or maybe it was that I had been focusing all my energy on Dimitri, because I had let down my protective wall, which I tried so hard to keep up. It protected me from the pain, the suffering, and the faces that called me deeper. But I wouldn't go, and that seemed to sadden them.

I jerked away, clutching my head at the same moment that Dimitri seemed to lean in. I stared past him, at something it seemed only I could see as more and more pained faces flocked around me. I cringed back into comfortable private jets seat, trying to get away from the faces. The migraine got worse, pounding at my head with a force so great I thought my head would explode. I couldn't take it anymore. My only release was to scream.

Dimitri looked at me, seeming to realise that I wasn't screaming at him, but at something he couldn't see, I was staring past him at the shape looming over me. I hated showing this weakness, but I couldn't shake it.

My scream seemed to break the thick blanket which hung over the two of us, smothering the air away from our lungs. My nails dug into the arm chair, making little marks in the nice leather as I arched my back into the chair, trying to get as far away from them as I could.

Dimitri raised his large hand to my face, placing it by my cheek in an effort to calm me. His hand was cold. So cold that it stung me. I flinched, but my eyes flickered over his worried figure. I felt my eyes close and I leant back into his reassuring hand, my lips parted slightly, my eyes brows furrowed. I was concentrating all of my might on putting my walls back up- maybe it was even a bit of Dimitri's too.

Slowly, the pain subsided and by grip on the arm chair slowly relaxed. Dimitri seemed to see this, and he slowly drew his face level to mine, so he looked me in the eye.

"What was that?" He asked, his voice hucky and sexy.

"Nothing…" I tried, though I knew I would need a better excuse than that. If I told him about the faces, he would think I was insane, although he probably already thought that.

"_That, _was not nothing," he told me, looking stern, "You can tell me anything. You can trust me…"

"I hardly know you!" I burst, the darkness that had surrounded the ghosts seemed to have been drawn into me.

He looked hurt. The expression made him looked vulnerable, younger. It almost made me feel like I _did _know him.

"I _do _know you!" My sudden realisation came. I had been with Lissa, before her parents had died, they had taken us to Russia for a holiday. We had visited this small town, far away from the city where Lissa's dad had friends. Liss and I had wandered around a bit, met a few people, and there was one guy, a tallish one with brown hair that we kept seeing around, but didn't ever talk to. Eventually I had manned up, and approached him. He was almost 17, I was freshly 14, though I told him I was 16. We had "gotten to know each other", we saw each other day, I almost fell in love with him. He was my first. When we left, I promised we'd see each other again.

That never happened. Lissa's parents and brother had died shortly after. And not long after that, we ran away. I never had the chance to explain anything to him, I guess I had sort of forgotten, being on the run and all… But here he was again. I couldn't believe I hadn't recognised him.

I leant towards him, so close I could feel him ragged breath on my lips. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to close the distance. But he didn't. Instead he asked, "Why did you never call?"

"I'm sorry…" was all I could say, tears springing up in my eyes. And I _was _sorry.

That seemed to be enough for him. His mouth was on mine in an instant, I looked the way it felt, and the nostalgia that went with it. It was familiar, but different at the same time, he had changes so much. But then again, so had I. I wasn't the weak 14 year old girl anyone. I am a killer. And so is he.

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><p>After the kiss between me and Dimitri, I fell asleep on the plane, thinking about Dimitri. I woke to sounds of the plane landing, the slight thunk it makes when it finally touches down. My body still tingled where he touched me, the back of my neck, my cheek, my lips... I didn't dream, but when I awoke, I had a smile on my face.<p>

I felt a nagging feeling in the back of my mind... _Rose... can you hear me... Call me when you can, _it seemed to say. That nagging voice was Lissa, wondering if I had landed yet, if I was safe. At moments like this, I wished the bond was 2-way, but aleast, I always though, it was this way, not the opposite.

_I just landed. Miss you already... But guess who it turns out is here! Rose X _

_Miss you too :( who is there? They're not replacing me are they? L Xx_

_They would never, your my sister :) ... but Dimitri is here... and he kissed me... Rx_

_Dimitri from RUSSIA, Dimitri? That's so cute! Do you think that I can get a transfer to Russia? Be there with you...? Lissa Xx_

_Yes, Dimitri from Russia. And NO! you are absolutely NOT coming over here, there are more strigoi here than in the US... it's too dangerous. I wish you could be here though. Love you! Rose x_

I'd never had any siblings- Lissa was the closest I ever got to having one, and now I'd lost her. She and I had been tight forever... I just hoped she could manage without me...

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><p>St Basils was exactly like St Vlads, plus some Russian artitecture, minus all the lustfilled, jealous stares, although I still got stares. These stares, were the open mouthed stares that a girl as hot as me gets when she walks down the street. I didn't really notice though, I couldn't take my eyes off of Dimitri.<p>

Arriving here was smoother that when Liss and I were taken back to St Vlads, there was no lecture, no attempted guilt trip and the head-mistress seemed almost... nice. Her name was Oksana Seliva. Her name sounded... familiar. After my meeting with her, I got my schedule, which was almost identical to my one at St. Vlads... except that it was all in Russia. I was assigned someone to be my mentor, to help with anything I needed... That just happened to be Dimitri. I was happy about that, I meant we had an excuse to be together.

My first class was a combat class. In it there were about 6 girls out of the 17. One girl, Viktoria introduced herself. She seemed nice. In the combat class, we started with sparring. I defeated each and every one of them within 5 minutes. It says something about their training. Fed up, the guardian leading the session, Guardian Jensen, a guardian from New York, called one of the guardians looking on to spar with me, while the others sparred each other.

I have to say, Jenson wasn't bad, I was just 20 times better. I even did it with my hair down, to prevent the curious looks that were come with my marks.

The period ended, and I remained undefeated, however I was promised that tomorrow, I would take on the best in the school. Dimitri Belikov.

**AN: I am sooo sorry that is has taken so long to put up the next chapter! I've been really busy. I'm actually at school doing it now. Anyways, I hope it was worth the wait, the longest yet I think :). I will try to be moer constant, but I can't promise anything... You guys are lucky... I should be studying for my history test! Tell me your ideas, oppinions, critism... and thankyou to all those who reviewed, favourited or alerted!**

**Phee XX**

**PS. I'm sorry about the inconsistancy with the amount of marks... I haven't looked at this story in ages and I kinda forgot... but thanks to Niji2075 for pointing it out! I meant 4 btw...**

**And don't forget to review :)! Thank you to all those who have favorited and/or alerted :)**


	6. I'm a Badass

**AN: ****My story is getting kinda muddled… think of this as the bit before the fight in the previous chapter, in more detail, probably skipping the classes. Im sorry for any incosistencys… I haven't looked at this in soo long!**

**Anyways, some feedback would be great **** Love you all! And don't forget to review!**

**Phoebe xx**

**PS. Does anyone, by any chance feel like betaing this story? Or even suggesting a minor plot line?**

**PPS. If anyone wants to be part of this story, review and give me the basics (gender, name, age, height, physical features, moroi or dhampir, special features, personality… etc.)**

**PPPS. Im sorry its been so long since I updated! School's busy… but now im on holidays!**

**Chapter 6:**

"Your record isn't good." My new headmustress, Mrs Seliva had told me. She was a kind looking woman, with greying hair and a kind face. So far, I was yet to see this though. But, I guess not much can be expected when your record is so long that it almost fills two folder, when generally there isn't much more than two pages. "Although, it is quite impressive. Four molnijia marks, escaping from a high security academy. Apparently you were the best of all the novices since you were 13. Is this correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." Believe it or not, I do know manners. And figuring this was a new start, I decided that I may as well begin with a good impression. "But I'm sure there's much better than me here."

Raising an eyebrow, he stared at me. Clearly that wasn't expected. Maybe the words "cocky" and "arrogant" were somewhere in my file. "No novices with marks. But if you would like to test this claim, it can be arranged."

I felt a half smile play on my lips. "I'm ready to kick some ass." I told him, too late thinking that maybe this wasn't the greatest choice of words.

He laughed slightly, his face pulling back into a small, handsome smile. "We'll get the top of the girls. If you defeat her, we will get the boys. If you surpass even his level, we might let Dimitri here try and take you."

My breath caught slightly, thinking of the possibility of a sensual dance between the two of us. It was already too hard not to stare into his dark eyes and imagine his hands running over my body. I shook my head, chasing away my dreams of this newer Dimitri. "When?"

"This afternoon. In the gym. We will invite the school." He told me manner-of-factly.

"I'll be there." I replied, before stopping, realising I'd missed something. "Wait- where's the gym?"

"I will send Dimitri to collect you. For while you are here, he will be your mentor. You will have training sessions with him in the gym, or in one of the classrooms once a week - we are told this was the case at St. Vladamirs."

The idea of spending time – alone- with Dimitri once a week was enticing, though I knew that I couldn't do anything. That would only get both him and me in trouble. Picking the flimsy paper map from the low table in front of me, I escaped from the newly stuffy room.

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><p>The layout of the school was much like it was at St Vlads, elementary on the eastern side, Moroi and Dhampir buildings separate, and only a wing for female dhampirs. Looked like they had a similar problem with very few females.<p>

"Rose!" a silky voice called. He was jogging to catch me, and when he did, he lightly tugged my arm. "About earlier… on the plane…"

Dimitri was freaking out on the inside, I could tell, even though his exterior remained in his hard, guardian mask I could see through the surface. "What about the plane?" I asked, going for the 'playing dumb' approach, rather than having a go at him.

"It was inappropriate… don't worry, it wont happen again." He told me. He didnt want to have to say that, but I could see his professional side had taken over.

My eyes darted left and right, spying the late class goers and sending them a spine chilling glare. The scurried off, leaving me standing out of sight.

My eyes flickered back to Dimitri, my breathing deepened, and I leaned in, standing on my tippy toes, to press a kiss to him lips. He did the same, except deepening the kiss. Soon enough, we were pressed against a secluded wall in the school, doing things that were so far past PG rated, that mentioning half would probably get someone in biiiggggg trouble!

"I'll see you later, Rose," he said when at last they have become detached from their Siamese-twin like state. He was grinning slightly, and his shoulder length hair was messy, and slightly wet…

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><p>A day full of classes, in <em>Russian<em>, after two years off really takes it out of you, I decided on my way to my room. I had never made it earlier, thanks to my escapades with one sexy, Russian God. However, throughout the day I had been shown around by Viktoria, who I was lucky enough to be rooming with. Viktoria was the one in my combat class that I had floored within 10 seconds.

She looked familiar, but I wasn't sure how, but I figured I must have seen her around on my previous trip to Russia. I would have asked her, but I felt awkward asking someone I barely knew.

Our room was spacious, two almost separate rooms, with a mini-kitchen and a small lounge area, with a lounge and flat screen TV.

It was around an hour after classes ended when Viktoria finally asked the question which had been nagging at the back of my mind for half the day. "Have I met you before? You seem familiar." She said this matter of factly, but it still sounded weird.

"I think so… I recognised you too. I don't now where from though." I told her. "Where do you live? I might have seen you around when I visited here a few years ago."

"Uhh, a small town named Baia?" She questioned, asking, from her tone if I had been there.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, happy to have finally solved the unsolvable puzzle, "I visited a few years ago with my best friends family."

"She was tall, blond, moroi?" Viktoria asked.], "the Dragomir one?"

"Yeah." I smiled, thinking about the easy days with Lissa and her family. "That was them."

"I saw you around my house a bit. You knew my brother, Dimitri." I nodded, agreeing with her statement. "He's here at the academy. Teaching or patrolling or something."

"I know. He's my mentor." I muttered the last bitr, not really wanting her to know that I 'needed a mentor'.

"Oh!" Her eyes widened, before coming back down and furrowing in thought. "You don't look like you need a mentor."

"I don't."

"Wanna prove that?" she challenged

"Sure. Right here, right now?" I agreed to her challenge. "Normal rules; no head shot, down for 3 seconds?"

"Your on." She smiled. Viktoria was very pretty, kinda of like me in a way, but less curvy and confident. But I could see her similarities to Dimitri in the way they both spoke, the way they _tried _to conceal their emotions.

We stood opposite each other, each squarely in an offensive position. I decided to let her make the first move, standing lightly, waiting.

She moved suddenly, a little faster than I thought she would, but still not fast enough to catch me off guard. She tried to roundhouse kick me, but I caught her leg mid-kick and twisted her so she was facing the floor.

Just then, there came a knock on the door, catching me off guarding. I released Viktorias leg; the knock and a well timed kick has caused me to loose my grip.

"Come in!" called Viktoria, before turning her attention back to our spar. She had stood facing me again, this time, aiming a punch to my face. I grabbed her wrist and pushed her back, so she fell on the floor. I crouched over her, placing my hands over her heart and declared her 'dead'.

"You learn something new every day," a voice chuckled. "Viktoria, you were leading me on when clearly you had something else in mind…"

"What? No, Roland!" Viktoria sounded embarrassed and outraged, as she pulled herself off the floor into a standing position beside me. I had already stood, as soon as I had heard the voice. "I was just challenging her to a spar, to see if she really did need a mentor."

"Well, if that's the case then, you may have to prove it."

Viktoria swing her hips in a slightly awkward looking manner, which she probably thought looked sexy. When she reached him, she swung her arm around his neck and started to kiss him. Roland, hardly looked like her enjoyed the kiss, and on a break for air, winked flirtingly at me before resuming the kiss.

Her actually winked at me, while making out with his girlfriend! What kind of douche is he?

An echoed knock, and a rough grunt shot Roland and Viktoria apart. Dimitri was standing at the door, sending Roland a glare that almost killed him.

His eyes wide, with fear vibrating through his figure, Roland bolted out the door without a second glance in Viktorias direction. I think she was too embarrassed to realise.

"Viktoria. Explain." Came Dimitri's sharp orders.

"Uh… I… sparing… and…" Viktoria tried, before I cut her off.

"Viktoria and I were sparing when Roland came in kissed his girlfriend. No big deal." I shrugged, looking Dimitri directly in the eyes, concerntrating and staring so intently, one might think I was trying to compel him.

"Rose…" He growled.

"Dimitri…" I growled back. "Is there a reason you're here?"

"I came to tell you when our mentoring sessions will be." He sent me a pointed look, as if to say 'we have to be careful…'. "I wasn't aware you were rooming with my sister."

"Well, she is." Viktoria cut in, clearly feeling quite awkward.

Dimitri turned sharply and headed towards the door, although with the door half open he turned to me and said, "Our sessions are afterschool tomorrow in the gym, by the way,"

Silence was left behind. Viktoria was staring after her brother, and so was I. I was wondering whether the gym would be private enough for us to…

"Wow."

"Wow what?" I snapped, a little too harshly, at Viktoria for shattering my fantasy of me and Dimitri. "Sorry…"

"I've never seen anyone who can talk to him like that… and live to tell the tale…"

"I'm a bad-ass." I smiled, happy that she would finally believe it.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Tell me what you think in a reviewww! <strong>

**REVIEW! Please?**


	7. There's So Much Blood

**AN: Ive tried to stick to what happens in the book... sorta. **

**Also, I know Dimitri is a little OOC, but I think he'd be a bit different without Lissa, and knowing Rose already...**

**But anyways, tell me what you think!**

**Phoebe :)**

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

No matter how many other people were around me, it didn't change the fact that I missed my best friend. Lissa was my sister. She was my family, and I was hers. I wondered when I would be able to visit her, or when she'd visit me.

I tried calling her on my first night, but I think I got the time zone wrong and was calling her when she was at school or fast asleep. Instead, I checked up on her through the bond. Yes, she was indeed at school. It was last period. She had math, but she wasn't really doing much maths.

She sat next to Camille Conta, the current leader of the St. Vladimir's royal cliques. She was a senior like me and Lissa. The two were passing notes back and forth and looking into Lissa's mind, I saw they were talking about Aaron, Lissa's ex-boyfriend who had been heartbroken when we had left. But to tell you the truth, she had never really liked him that way- she more felt sorry for him. But what really surprised me was that they were also talking about Christian Ozera. Christian was an outcast; his parents had voluntarily turned strigoi, but were killed shortly after, before the could turn Christian. Everyone thought that he was unstable; ready to turn any second. But I felt sorry for the guy- not sorry enough to go talk to him, but enough not to torment him.

Apparently, both were staring at Lissa. Aaron I could understand since he had been totally infatuated and was utterly heartbroken when we had left, but Christian surprised me. Generally, he was aloof and invisible. But apparently, Lissa had caught his eye. No matter that I didn't didn't distrust him, I didn't want him being 'friendly' with Lissa. He wasn't the type of person who is good for her.

And I just knew that Lissa would give him a chance. She was too trusting, too innocent. She wasn't the kind of person who was careful around people.

Just then, the bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day. Lissa stood, pushing the seat out as she did so, before reaching a pale hand out to the piece of paper with the scribbled conversation and scruching it in her hand. It was a strange feeling being in her head, it felt like it was my body, though I had no control over it. I never told Lissa when I was in her head; she saw it as an invasion of privacy, so she never knew. Now was no exception.

LINEEE

After looking into Lissa's mind, I decided to leave it a few days before calling her, hoping that it would help her to settle in without me. And as much as I hate to admit it, she had to learn to be without me. But I always still hoped that maybe I could still be her guardian after school.

Missing her like crazy, I too had to get used to it. So, I decided to emerse myself in this new school by surrounding myself by as many people as possible. During my combat classes the next day, I decided I would flirt with every boy and draw as much attention to myself as possible. Deciding to go for the sexy look, I wore a sports bra and tight yoga shorts, showing off my curves and toned muscles and legs.

I got a few wolf whistles when I walked in, but most were too stunned to catch themselves out staring at me. I winked at on of the hotter guys and gave the rest my man-eating smile before turning to the instructor. He raised an eyebrow, as if questioning my choice of attire but made no objections, before then telling us to pair up and spar.

I walked over to the guy I winked at, swinging my hips in a manner that was supposed to be sexy. I hadn't sparred this guy yet, but he had probably heard the rumours. I trailed a finger down his shirts tracing over where his toned abs would be. I leaned into him, before whispering into his ear, "you ready?"

He nodded as I stood opposite him, trying my thick almost-black hair into a messy bun so you could almost see my molnijia marks. Licking my lips and winking at him again, I waited for him to make the first move.

He stepped forward, getting closer to me so he try to land a hit. But before he could get close enough, I roundhouse kicked the side of his face, disorientating him. He took an involuntary step back, surprised. I kicked him again, this time succeeding in knocking him on his ass.

I straddled him, pushing slightly on his chest and lowering my face as if to kiss him, but instead, pressing my hands over his heart, marking him as 'dead'.

I smirked, getting off of him and pulling him up. My breathing was only slightly irregular, whereas he was panting, though I suspect it was more from my presence than the actual fight.

"Rose," I said as I held my hand out to introduce myself.

He took a while to respond, still staring, before saying, "Jay."

"I didn't believe all those rumours," he sighed, his breath still not completely normal, "But wow, you can fight."

LINE

By the time lunchtime had come, people couldn't take their eyes off of me. I was the centre of attention and I was loving it. Today, I had made a special effort, putting on a tight blood red, low cut top and a pair of washed out skinny black jeans. I even wore heels and makeup. I had made a special effort in making sure my mascara and lipgloss were still perfect after the combat classes. In a way, I was glad Lissa wasn't here so I didn't have to worry so much. Immediately, I retracted that. I would never, ever want to be away from Lissa, even if it did give me a sort of freedom I never had with her.

"You bitch," snarled some blond Moroi, non-royal, I might add.

"Excuse me?" I asked with as much sass as I could manage.

"I said, 'you bitch!'" she repeated, looking at me as though I was an idiot. She stood behind my chair, as if challenging me to something. Her hair was perfectly straight, and the clothes she wore screamed try-hard.

"I heard what you said the first time," And cue the next look... She looked at me incredulously, just begging me to talk my way out of my idiocy. "I wanted to see if you had the nerve to say it to my face."

"You know, I don't believe the rumours about you." This girl was challenging me... I had never spoken one word to her, and she was challenging me! "As if your slutty body could ever have killed."

We were gathering a bit of a crowd by now, as the two of us stood a metre apart shooting snarky comments back and forth.

"As if your wanna-be-royal ass could ever have friends," I shot back.

"I have a boyfriend." She growled, looking a bit like a demented mole. "I don't see you with one."

"And I don't see your brave boyfriend her protecting you. Besides, I've been here two days." I reached around my neck to tie my hair back, forgetting about my marks for the moment. There was a collective intake of breath, causing me to drop my hair back onto my neck.

"Besides, ask any person I've sparred, they'll tell you I can fight," I told her, before nodding to Jay, who was making his way through the crowd. "How convenient... Ask Jay. I sparred him this morning."

The moroi girl narrowed her eyes, just as Jay had finally pushed his way through the crowd, and stood for a moment, looking between the two of us. I winked flirtingly at him and he smirked, before going in the moroi's direction and winding a arm around him waist.

"Wow, Rose can fight," Jay told his girlfriend. "She floored me in like, two seconds,"

This only seemed to make her angrier, although had succeeded in making her back down. She turned and stormed off, but not before glaring at me once more.

The crowd was beginning to break off, apparently finding me alone no so interesting anymore. Jay, on the other hand found himself wading through the crowd in his attempt to talk to me.

"Sorry about Melody," he said, "She seemed to think something happened between us."

"What!" I exclaimed, before bursting out laughing. "Of course, first period."

"But if you ever wanna take me up on that offer, come talk to me," And for the first time, he accompanied his words with a wink.

That afternoon, I had my first training with Dimitri. When I walked, I had found Dimitri talking with Guardians Evans and Dsonovic. Each were in their training gear and my outfit compared to the others was very skimpy.

I was again wearing the sports bra and yoga pants that I had worn this morning in my combat classes. Guardian Evans on the other hand, was wearing a loose T-shirt and bike shorts, which subtly showed her body off. She was pretty young for a head guardian; only looking in her mid 30's. Her short ash-blond hair hung around her face in its pixie cut. She wasn't very tall, only maybe a few inches taller than me.

Guardian Dsonovic, on the other hand, wore a tight white shirt which showed off his toned muscles, to contest with mine. He was tall, not Dimitri tall, but around 6'3.

Dimitri, or Guardian Belikov around any other guardians looked hot. His track pants hanging on his hips and a simple t-shirt, seemed only to play up his looks. But really, did he seriously want to train in long pants?

"Rose, nice of you to join us," Guardian Evans nodded to me, before preceding to explain what would happen. "We need to gage your capabilities; your strengths, your weaknesses. So, you will spar the three of us. First Guardian Dsonovic, then me, then Guardian Belikov. We are the three best guardians in the school, though from what I hear, you should at least be able to take me and Isaac."

"Let's get started, shall we?" Guardian Dsonovic asked, his voice thick with him Russian accent. The mats were already set out for us to spar, as were two seats for spectators where both Dimitri and Guardian Evans sat holding clips boards.

I stood facing Guardian Dsonovic, crouching in an offensive position.

"3,2,1..." We were counted in, and then Guardian Dsonovic made his first move.

Compared to each of the spars I had had within the past week or so, this one was hard. But compared to those I had had in the real world, both with Jason Derek and strigoi, this was almost... easy.

I would fake, then he would dodge my faked punch only for me to kick him. He would then punch me. This went of for a while, but I soon found my opening. I slapped his face; hard, before roundhouse kicking him and bringing my leg around to trip him. My signature move. We rolled for a bit, before I managed to place my hands securely over him heart. He was "dead."

"Well done, Rose," Guardian Evans congratulated me. I noticed a few people standing just inside the gym. Clearly they had seen the fight as they passed. As I looked at the group, they shifted their eyes but didn't leave. "That took, nearly four minutes. Shall I give you a moment to recover?"

I nodded, catching the breath I hadn't realised was laboured.

When my breath returned to normal, I moved over to the mat once more, presuming Evans would follow.

We stood opposite each other on the mat, and this time, I made the first move. This fight was tighter than the last, but I was soon able to push her to the ground and pronounce her "dead".

"7 minutes." Dimitri told me over the soft applause of the building crowd. "Are you ready?"

I frowned at that, he offered to compliment or encouragement as I had got at first. I caught my breath, before returning to the mat once more.

I'm not going to lie, I had thought Dimitri would be easy. No matter how many whispers I heard about his bad-ass-ness he had always seemed so gentle...

No matter how badly I had judged Dimitri's ability, I still held my ground well enough. Although, it was obviously from the first hit that his ability well surpased mine.

Soon, I was beginning to tire and I was getting less hits on Dimitri. Deciding it was now or never, I roundhouse kicked him, pushed him backwards and tripped him. This caught him by surprise, although he still managed to pulled me down with him.

He was on top of me, arms either side of my shoulder, trying to secure me so that he could "stake" me.

Bringing my arms up, I rolled the two of us so I sat, my knees on his chest and I went to stake him. But before I could manage, he flipped us once again and staked me before I could fight back.

There was another round of applause from the growing crowd, but I barely noticed as I stared into Dimitri's rich, brown eyes. In that second, I was incredibly tempted to ignore the crowd and close the space between our lips.

"Twenty-two minutes." noted Guardian Evans, her face showing enormous pride. "I think I lasted three..."

I laughed at her statement, smiling before looking to Dimitri, "Don't you and I have a training session to get to? Teach me your tricks, oh Jedi Master."

Dimitri had introduced me to the human's Star Wars movies when I had first met him. Now seemed like an appropriate time to bring it up. Dimitri smiled back at me, his eyes staring past me as he undoubtedly remembered the day we watched them. I, for one, would never forget it...

"Yes, I agree," conceeded Guardian Dsonovic. "That's very wise of you."

"I'll herd these people out. Leave you two in peace to train."

"Thanks," I told them, before turning mock glaring at Dimitri. "You only won because I was tired!"

"Strigoi won't let you rest," he reasoned as the last of the novices left.

"No, they don't" I agreed, before changing the topic. "Let's do something fun!"

I knew I was whining, but I also knew that he knew what I meant by fun.

"Maybe..." he said mysteriously as he began to roll up the mats and put them away.

I sighed, before joining Dimitri and helping him pack up and put away the equipment.

They gym was empty; except for the two of us. It was quiet as we put away the last of it. It made me feel bold.

Walking up to Dimitri, I slung my arm around him neck and pulled his face to mine for the kiss I'd been craving. It was soft, at first, before he began to deepen the kiss. Suddenly, I was pressed up against a wall with my legs wrapped around his waist.

I fingered the edge of his shirt, softly tickling him abs.

I felt a kind of pulsing in my head, causing me to drop his shirt and pull away mid kiss.

"I'm sorry..." I told him. "But maybe this is too fast. I know we've done... a lot... but I'm not sure I want to do this in the gym..."

Dimitri ran a hand through his long hair. "I know, it's not very romantic. But wait and see, just how romantic I can be..."

I smiled at his corny rhyming, before placing a light kiss on his lips and leaving the gym.

* * *

><p>There was no one in my room when I got back. Viktoria must have been at someone's room or the library or something. I only hoped she wasn't with Roland.<p>

My arms felt sticking from sweat as I moved them around, my legs ached from exertion and my brain felt kind of frozen. So, I decided reasonably that I would have a bath.

Lieing in the hot water was relaxing: I could feel the sweat washing away, my muscles slowly loosening and my brain defrosting. What was ruining it however, was the persistant ringing of my mobile.

Finally, I decided against staying in the bath. I had to go and answer it, with all the ringing, it had to be important.

So, wrapping a towel around my soaking figure, I reached when phone sat buzzing.

"Hello?" I answered, annoyed at whoever had drawn me from my bath.

"Oh, thank God," someone on the other end of the line sobbed. Lissa.

"Liss? What's wrong?" I asked, feeling slightly distressed since I was over the other end of the world. I was finally feeling Lissa's emotions through the bond. This changed the tone of my voice completely.

"There's so much blood..."

* * *

><p><strong>REVIEW and I'll update quicker :)<strong>


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